The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, February 23, 1983, Image 16

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    features
BattaliOfi/ParJ
February 23,
Despite Mexican efforts
peso may still devaluate
United Press International
Border bankers and civic
leaders will devalue no peso be
fore its time.
But the currency exchangers
on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico
border have frustrated the Mex
ican government’s massive pub
lic relations effort to keep the
peso’s value at the rate of 149
against the dollar.
Eventually, most border
bankers agree, the peso will go
down to 200 against the dollar,
the victim of inflation, the world
oil glut and a drop in Mexico’s
gross national product.
But the money exchangers in
border cities like El Paso, Texas
and Juarez, Mexico are rushing
matters.
During a 24-hour period this
week, one Juarez bank was able
to exchange only $25 in Amer
ican money while exchange
houses in Juarez and El Paso
were doing a booming business.
Here’s the reason why:
Thousands of Mexican na
tionals work in El Paso and live
in Juarez. Thousands more live
in Del Rio and commute daily
from Ciudad Acuna, Mexico.
The same can be said for the
border cities of Presidio-
Ojinaga, Eagle Pass-Pied ras
Negras, Laredo-Nuevo Laredo,
McAllen-Reynosa and Brown
sville-Matamoros.
Many of the Mexican nation
als, sometimes called “commu
ter aliens,” are maids. Others are
farmworkers or factory workers
earning U.S. minimum wages.
Their American dollars,
changed into pesos, provide
them with a better salary than
most workers in Mexico who
earn peso salaries.
The mininum wage in Juarez
is about $2 a day for those lucky
enough to have a steady job. Un
employment in Juarez is about
40 percent and underemploy
ment is so rampant officials have
stopped counting.
Other border cities have simi
lar problems and complain of a
population increasing faster
than the economic system’s abil
ity to accommodate them.
The Mexican commuter
aliens are important to Mexico’s
economy. They return to Juarez
and other border cities to cash
their pay checks, buy groceries
and pay the rent. Naturally, they
look for the most favorable rate
of exchange.
The Juarez banks offer 149
pesos per $ 1. The neighbor
hood money exchanger, howev
er, offers 152 pesos per dollar.
Meanwhile, the banks and
money exchangers across the
border in El Paso offer even
more.
The culprits in this crazy bor
der economy are Mexican en
trepreneurs anxious to grab dol
lars before any official devalua
tion. They deliberately offer
more pesos per SI than the
banks.
The money exchangers want
to be holding dollars when the
peso is devalued again, sup-
I
posedly, sometime this sm
Eager beneficiaries o!
greed are not only then
ter aliens but American!!
who shop for ba
Mexico.
El Paso shoppers
groceries in Mexico also
their exchangeserv
shopping in Mexican
t ities is decreasing, how
cause of more stringem
t hecks by Mexican cu!
cials to keep food
home.
J uarez bankers thn
file complaints with the!
attorney general’s office
those money exchangersi
ing in both El Paso and
w ho are offering more
than the governments
rxi hange rate.
•’[IRON] offers
sights that no eye.
no camera has
ever before beheld
...a vision of the
movies' future”
99tf Pitchers or Beer
- Richard Sctvcfcel
TRON'is about tot*
you somewhere ytf:
never been.-ato*
a computer. , no mt'
has ever looked fe
this before:’
-David Anscn
NEWSWEEK
or Pepsi
ivith any meal purchase at
Know more art, please
photo by Kachcllc Colburn
or
Yong Kim, left, submits two pencil
sketchings to Kirk Kuykendall for
Artfest, a student competition
sponsored by the MSC Arts Committee.
Entries for the contest are being taken
at the MSC gallery through Friday.
Alfredo’s
Any Large Pizza at Papa’s Pizza
7m*
Headaches: simple ailments,
but causes still mysterious
Papa’s Pizza Prices:
Large 16" Cheese Pizza
Any Additional Item
98
United Press International
It’s the most common ailment
in the country, affecting 90 per
cent of Americans. It generates
billions of dollars for aspirin
manufacturers. But the simple
headache is not yet understood.
“It’s only in the past decade
that we’ve begun to understand
the pain mechanisms, and
there’s still a lot to be learned,”
says Seymour Solomon, director
of the headache unit at Monte-
fiore Medical Center in New'
York City.
Researchers know that peo
ple get headaches for all sorts of
reasons. Tension headaches
usually result from psychologic
al stress. I his in turn may cause tightened muscles, relay an elec-
scalp muscles to contract toe* trochemical impulse to the
hard or too long. Nerve endings brain, which interprets the sig-
in the scalp, stimulated by the nal as pain.
Super Big Papa’s Deluxe
(This pizza has everything on it.)
More than 30 parking spaces in rear.
s 4 !
S|23
s 9 50
> Pitchers of Beer
OPENING SOON
SPEEDQUEEN SUPER STORE
• Coin operated laundry
• Attendant on duty
• Free stemmers
1806 Welsh
Just south of SW Pkwy.
7 a.m.-l0:00 p.m.
Take out window or order and eat inside
ALFREDO’S dining room.
Same place, same owner
Alfredo’s/Papa’s Pizza
846-3824 Taco AI Carbon 846-4066
509 UNIVERSITY AT NORTHGATE
presented by
MSC Cepheid Variable
Thursday, February 24
7:30 and 9:45
Rudder Theater $ 1 50
the
FLU TREATMENT IS HERE
A study using the new drug Ribavirin
is going on at the Beutel Health Center
If you have Flu Symptoms
- Fever
- Muscle Aches
- Chills
- Sore Throat
Come to the health Center within the first 24
hours of illness and ask for the Flu Doctors (day
or night-Flu Fighters don’t sleep)
HOCH
You may win a paid vacation (about $112.00) in the Health Center
Dr. John Quarles
845-1313
Good times offer
mnif
PLANT
SALE!
the COMMONS
the QUAD
FLCRfCUfTCtKE
•CIUB-
yTTVi -sSeSfr—
LUBBOCK ST.
PLANT SALE 1
J
co
SATURDAY
FEB. 26
10 a.m. ’till
2 p.m.
Name_
Addresa.
City_
Specify quantity.
Fourteen oz. glass mug for sale. It’s the two-fisted
way to drink to good times and salute your great taste
in drinks. Why not start a collection? Please send this
coupon, along with a check or money order for $4.95
per mug (no cash please) to: Seagram’s 7 Crown Mug
Offer, RO. Box 1622, New York, N.Y 10152
.Amount enclosed $
Offer expires January 31, 1984. No purchase necessary.
New York residents add 8.25% sales tax.
Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for shipment.
TAMC24
RHHHMBHHHBBHHHHHBHHHHHHI
Seagram's
© 1982 SEAGRAM DISTILLERS CO., N.Y.C. AMERICAN WHISKEY-A BLEND. 80 PROOF. "Seven-Up'' and "7UP'' are trademarks of the Seven Up Company.